Little did they know that a battlefield diary written by Tantai Mingyue would place Songjiang in the eyes of soldiers and civilians across the country.
They, as mentioned in Tantai Mingyue's diary, along with the entire city, were trembling under the Japanese artillery fire.
At 7 o'clock in the morning, I stood on the top of the Songjiang wall and looked into the distance. Like a swarm of ants, a patch of earthy color swept toward Songjiang City from the Huangpu River.
That was a division and a detachment totaling 40,000 Japanese troops. Together with the 114th Division, which was originally in the direction of Songjiang East City, the number of Japanese troops surrounding Songjiang would reach more than 50,000.
The Japanese army that was about to arrive surrounded Songjiang City from three sides. Except for the area left in the direction of the north city, the remaining 1,000 meters in front of the city walls were all khaki.
The arriving Japanese army was not in a hurry to attack Songjiang, but instead built field fortifications in front of Songjiang Castle, but this did not mean that they left Songjiang Castle idle.
Since the infantry arrived, its howitzers deployed several kilometers away began to test fire. After three rounds of test fire, it was a saturation bombardment.
This time, it was much more terrifying than when the 114th Division arrived.
Because the Sixth Division that has arrived also has an artillery regiment with 48 artillery pieces of several calibers. The Kunisaki detachment also has an enhanced artillery brigade with 16 75-caliber mountain guns, plus the additional supplies.
The 114th Division has 48 artillery pieces. These alone are more than 100 artillery pieces.
Coupled with the participation of six naval guns in the battle, the intensity of the artillery fire was more than double that of yesterday.
This wave of bombardment was not divided into Cangcheng, residential areas, and Songjiang City. All areas belonging to the Chinese garrison positions were all within the range of the Japanese army's bombardment.
In the exact words of Hisao Tani, the commander of the Sixth Division who arrived at the front line of Matsue West City: "I hope to see the Chinese trembling under the artillery fire of the Imperial Army! Let them understand that the so-called fighting spirit is reflected in the artillery fire of the Imperial Army.
In front of power, nothing is possible!"
It's a very domineering declaration, but at this moment, it seems that Hisao Tani does have the confidence to be domineering.
Hundreds of artillery pieces firing together was definitely an extremely luxurious thing for the Chinese army at this time.
This round of shelling lasted for a full hour and a half, until the Japanese troops in the wilderness had basically built their field fortifications.
The entire Songjiang area was enveloped in thick smoke, which did not dissipate until more than ten minutes later.
From the perspective of the observation post that survived, we could see that houses inside and outside the city were collapsed and burned. From time to time, ferocious craters could be seen on the originally smooth streets.
Of course, these are not terrible. As long as people are not hiding in these houses, no matter how badly damaged the houses are, the casualties will not be too great.
However, the ancient city wall of Songjiang, which was not seriously damaged in yesterday's bombardment, was blasted with several large gaps.
Even the several-meter-thick city wall was blasted to pieces, not to mention the various fortifications built on it. The heavy machine gun fortifications built with logs and sandbags were like paper under the power of the 105 howitzer and 127 naval gun, let alone
If hit head-on, even from a distance of more than thirty meters, the terrifying air wave can collapse it.
Fortunately, from the beginning of the construction of fortifications in Songjiang, Tang Dao came up with tunnel warfare tactics that China would sum up in the future in the ice and snow of the north fighting American cowboys armed to the teeth. I can't win with your awesome artillery, but
I can hide.
Except for leaving enough observation posts, the rest of the main troops hid in air-raid shelters and watched the city being bombed into a mess, but the real damage to personnel was minimal.
However, this round, the Songjiang security team located in residential areas suffered heavy losses.
The basements and cellars where they were hiding were not as strong as the air-raid shelters in Songjiang City. After such a round of shelling, I don’t know how many people would never have the chance to get out of the simple shelter that was only one meter deep underground.
He suffocated to death in the cellar before even a single bullet was fired.
"Good, there's no money for those stupid Japanese artillery shells! Contact your brothers quickly and see how they are doing. I'm afraid the Japanese are coming." When the fierce artillery fire stopped, he emerged from the basement of the headquarters he had set up in disgrace.
While complaining about the Japanese's prodigal bombardment, Zhuang Shisan ordered his guard squad leader to blow the iron whistle.
That was the security battalion commander’s own contact information.
The inspiration came from the whistles used by a group of green-skinned gangsters to convey messages when they were wandering around the world in the early years.
Needless to say, this relatively primitive form of communication has had unexpected effects when used on a battlefield where the enemy and ourselves may be in a melee at any time.
Just like last night, when the whistle blew, the Japanese knew the general location of their own people, and also vaguely knew what they wanted to do, but the Japanese who also heard the whistle were confused, because the iron whistles were heard one after another throughout the neighborhood. Anyway,
There are enemies everywhere.
Being able to communicate while knowing nothing at the same time, it would be strange if the Japanese army were not at a disadvantage.
"Beep----beep!" One long and two short iron whistles sounded.
The sound of the iron whistle used to identify oneself and convey messages was sharp enough to be heard nearly a hundred meters, and the meaning of one long and two short was to require each company, platoon, and squad to report their position.
Generally speaking, each infantry squad has an iron whistle hanging around the neck of the squad leader. As long as the infantry squad is not destroyed, there will basically be a response.
Moreover, the soldiers in the security battalion, who had become much smarter, all had cotton in their pockets. When the Japanese artillery test began, they would stuff cotton into their ears to ensure that their hearing would not be damaged.
Now that the artillery fire has stopped, the soldiers who cannot feel the shock are not stupid enough to still plug their ears. What will happen if the Japanese come?
As the iron whistle sounded, iron whistles sounded one after another all around.
Master Zhuang kept dusting himself off with a smile on his face. Until the last iron whistle sounded, there was no sound for a long time.
The smile of the major security battalion commander was frozen on his face.
He turned around and asked his guard squad leader: "Just now did you count how many voices were responding to us?"
"It seemed like there were twenty sounds!" the guard squad leader replied somewhat uncertainly, with an extremely ugly expression on his face. "Maybe some places were too far away and we didn't hear it."
"Fart, how can you not hear it? I am in the center of the camp, with four companies in the battalion located in the southeast, northwest, and it's not like I haven't tried it when I came here." Zhuang Shisan was furious.
"I asked you to read more, now it's better. I can't even count, so how can I only have 20 sounds?"
I have a battalion of 700 people, how can I only have 20 calls? If you blow the whistle for me, no, blow the bugle for me, and ask the whole battalion to return to the position, don't give me a try, the Japanese are coming.
"
According to the pre-war agreement, each platoon and squad that crawled out of the cellar after receiving the bugle and returning to their positions must report to their company commander with an iron whistle, and then the company headquarters will report to the battalion headquarters through the telephone line.
In the face of such a violent bombardment, the telephone lines were probably cut off long ago, so there was no need to even think about making a phone report, but it could still be done with the most primitive iron whistle.
A few minutes after the bugle sounded, the iron whistles of each company were heard one after another dozens of meters away, but this time, no matter how hard the major battalion commander and the guard squad leader listened, there were still no more than 30 whistles.
Each iron whistle represents an infantry squad, which also means that there will be no more than 30 infantry squads scattered in the neighborhood that can respond.
The security corps belongs to the local armed forces, and the local finance is responsible for military pay. The number of personnel is much larger than that of the regular army. An infantry squad has up to 15 people, which means that only 450 people can still take the position.
There was a melee with the Japanese army last night, and 80 people were killed and injured. The security battalion commander had been devastated for a long time. Now it was good, after a shelling, more than 100 people were killed.
"Liang, before the fighting officially started, you killed so many of my brothers and sent red flares to me. Today, I will fight to the death with the stubborn Japanese." The eyes of the major's security battalion commander instantly turned red.
Being in the arena relies on the word "righteousness". The major and battalion commander may not have enough spirit of sacrifice, but he has often heard of Guan Yun's story of surpassing five levels and killing six generals. This brotherly righteousness is always kept in mind.
Heart.
Apart from his parents, wife and children, this may be the second reason why the security battalion commander still insists on standing here.
Outside Cangcheng, a Japanese officer wearing a major general's uniform, white gloves, and a tasseled command knife hanging on his waist looked at the neighborhood 600 meters away with a telescope that was still smoking black, with a disdainful sneer on his lips.
"No wonder they can only supplement the division. Even if they are given the title of special division, they will not be of much use!
By placing troops in such a place, the Chinese are only adding glory to our Kuozaki detachment!
Akimi-kun, tell me, if we conquer this neighborhood in just one hour, wouldn’t it be too ugly for Suematsu Shigeharu?”
